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appease

 - 3 dictionary results

ap⋅pease

  [uh-peez]
Use appease in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -peased, -peas⋅ing.
1. to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe: to appease an angry king.
2. to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage: The fruit appeased his hunger.
3. to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.
Origin:
1300–50; ME apesen < AF apeser, OF apais(i)er, equiv. to a- a- 5 + paisi- peace + -er inf. suffix

Related forms:
ap⋅peas⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ap⋅peas⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun
ap⋅peas⋅a⋅bly, adverb
ap⋅pease⋅ment, noun
ap⋅peas⋅er, noun
ap⋅peas⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. calm, placate. 3. Appease, conciliate, propitiate imply trying to preserve or obtain peace. To appease is to make anxious overtures and often undue concessions to satisfy the demands of someone with a greed for power, territory, etc.: Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler at Munich. To conciliate is to win an enemy or opponent over by displaying a willingness to be just and fair: When mutual grievances are recognized, conciliation is possible. To propitiate is to admit a fault, and, by trying to make amends, to allay hostile feeling: to propitiate an offended neighbor.

Antonyms:
1. enrage. 2. increase, arouse, sharpen. 3. defy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To appease
ap·pease   (ə-pēz')   
tr.v.   ap·peased, ap·peas·ing, ap·peas·es

  1. To bring peace, quiet, or calm to; soothe.

  2. To satisfy or relieve: appease one's thirst.

  3. To pacify or attempt to pacify (an enemy) by granting concessions, often at the expense of principle. See Synonyms at pacify.


[Middle English appesen, from Old French apesier : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + pais, peace (from Latin pāx; see pag- in Indo-European roots).]
ap·peas'a·ble adj., ap·peas'a·bly adv., ap·peas'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

appease 
1330, from O.Fr. apeser "to pacify, appease," from the phrase a paisier "bring to peace," from a- "to" + pais, from L. pacem (nom. pax) "peace." Appeasement (1439) first recorded 1919 in international political sense; not pejorative until failure of Chamberlain's policy toward Germany in 1939 (Methods of appeasement was Chamberlain's description of his policy).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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